Is Italy showing signs of turning racist? The pressure of migration brings new stresses to a country which has had, until now, a proud history of open-mindedness. Because the avalanche of newcomers is not about to be stopped, to seek a peaceful solution to the role of Libya could help, Laura Boldrini suggests.

Is Italy showing signs of turning racist? The pressure of migration brings new stresses to a country which has had, until now, a proud history of open-mindedness. Because the avalanche of newcomers is not about to be stopped, to seek a peaceful solution to the role of Libya could help, Laura Boldrini suggests.

This October Italy launched a new national census on the family, the 15th such census in history, and by November, over 16 million families - 60% of the total – had already replied. Full results will be released in the Spring of 2012.
The population is, strictly speaking, somewhat less Italian. Nothing more recent that January 2011 is available, but at that time it was estimated that, of the 60 million population, over 4.5 million were immigrants, or 7.5% of the total.